Although it was produced in 1604, William Shakespeare’s play Othello still relates to the everyday situations of certain people. In the play, Shakespeare gives the reader situations of misguided trust, wrongful mistrust, and overpowering love. All of which are still around in modern lives, especially that of my own.

Today it often occurs that people tend to keep their enemies closer than their friends. This is done in hopes that the person can undermine his enemy with friendly persuasion to participate in a wrong doing rather than using brute force. In the story, Iago befriends Othello in hopes of one day gaining Cassio’s position of Lieutenant. Because he feels overlooked for the position, Iago convinces Othello that his wife Desdemona has cheated on him with Cassio to ruin the trust Othello and Cassio have for each other. This has also happened in my life; when I was dating my last girlfriend, a guy at school, or my so called Iago, tried his hardest to become my friend and convince me that my girlfriend was cheating on me with my best friend. The situation even got to the point where he had tried to plant evidence to prove his accusations.

As a result of the false friendships, there was also an added mistrust towards the women of both Othello’s and my own lives. When Iago hid the handkerchief in Cassio’s possession, Othello asked Desdemona if she had her handkerchief and of course she could not find it; Othello then begins to accept Iago’s accusations of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness, and like Othello, I also began to wonder if my girlfriend might actually be unfaithful to me.

Michael Cooper
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